NYT Reinvented Reality of Bloodbath in Gaza

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Like other media scoundrels, the Times has a sordid history of one-sided support for Israel, whitewashing its high crimes - reporting dishonestly on the Palestinian "Great March of Return" since Friday.

Its Monday report referred to Israeli mass murder as a "Gaza clash," portraying state-sponsored terrorism as two sides contesting with each other, calling Israeli slaughter of 17 Gazans on Friday, along with wounding nearly 1,500 others a "deadly flare-up."

Not a single Israeli soldier or civilian was killed or injured, only defenseless Palestinians, victims of state-sponsored aggression, gunned down in cold blood or wounded, some victims with life-threatening injuries. 

One already succumbed, the death toll now at 18, virtually certain to rise.

The Times: "(B)oth sides have been pressing their cases to defend their actions."

Fact: Israeli viciousness is indefensible, war without mercy on defenseless Palestinian civilians, including women and children.

The Times: "Palestinians, supported by human rights groups, view the events as a legitimate protest that was met with disproportionate force by trigger-happy Israeli soldiers" - indisputably what's happening.

"Israel says it acted judiciously to prevent a dangerous breach of its borders and sovereignty led by Hamas, the Islamic group that controls Gaza, and to protect nearby communities. The toll would have been much higher, Israel says, if the protesters had managed to break through the security barrier."

Fact: No Gazans broke through. Other than a few brave souls, none approached the illegal barrier. Israeli remarks were bald-faced lies, what the Times failed to explain and denounce.

Fact: Israeli communities near Gaza face no threats, not from Hamas or anyone else - other than from Netanyahu-led coalition extremists, none from Palestinians.

The Times: "Israel's defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, ruled out participation in any commission of inquiry, telling Army Radio on Sunday that the Israeli military 'did what had to be done.' He added, 'I think that all of our troops deserve a medal.' "

The Times let the remarks pass without condemning them - nor denouncing Lieberman as a thuggish rogue actor/Islamophobic war criminal.

The Times: Palestinian "organizers had been purposely vague about plans to breach the border, to keep Israel guessing."

Fact: There were no border-crossing plans. Peaceful protests were held in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem against decades of occupation harshness, land theft, state terror, and wars at Israel's discretion.

Palestinians responded to premeditated IDF live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and toxic tear gas by stone-throwing and burning tires - not gun fire or any other potentially lethal action, not getting close enough to the border fence to harm any Israeli.

The Times lied claiming otherwise, citing a fake Israeli video, purporting to show "shooting at Israeli forces across the fence in northern Gaza before being killed by Israeli tank and gunfire."

Early Friday morning, Israeli tank fire killed a Gazan farmer on his land far from the border, inciting rage among other Palestinians - none using gunfire to attack soldiers.

On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians were gunned down in cold blood, 18 killed, one shot in the back multiple times. Legitimate Palestinian videos showed the horror.

According to the Times, "videos circulated widely on social media appear(ed) to show unarmed protesters being shot by the Israelis" - a deliberate distortion of reality, instead of denouncing Israeli cold-blooded murder.

Mondoweiss quoted American-born/Israeli journalist, former Zionist/turned sharp Israeli critic Larry Derfner, denouncing dishonest NYT reporting, saying no Israeli soldiers were injured throughout Friday's violence, adding:

"What the (IDF) was saying before Friday was that they would shoot at anybody who tried to break through the (border) fence or endangered the lives of soldiers."  

So the (near-1,500 Palestinians who got shot (over half by live fire) were all breaking through the fence?" 

"That doesn't make sense - the fence would have come down, and it didn't. So it seems the IDF fired at people who were using slingshots and Molotov cocktails and rolling tires that hit no one, and possibly at people who were simply moving 'suspiciously' toward the fence" threatening no one."

On Israeli/Palestinian issues, the Times one-sidedly supports what demands condemnation and accountability.

Israel is a ruthless rogue state, Palestinians brutalized for decades. According to the Times and world community, their lives and welfare don't matter.

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